


King of Darkness, King of Light

by Lhugy_for_short



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Divergence - Ardyn "persuades" Noctis to join him, Dark, Implied Sexual Content, Implied dubcon, M/M, Memory Alteration, Not the happy ending you were looking for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 04:16:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12246813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lhugy_for_short/pseuds/Lhugy_for_short
Summary: Ardyn proposes an alternative to the fate the Gods have dealt, and Noctis' hesitation is taken for all it's worth.For ArdyNoct Week Day 2 - "Kings/Marriage AU"





	King of Darkness, King of Light

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhh Ardynoct *swoon" How I do love dark, twisted, and creepy. I promise not all of my submissions for this week will be so fucked up, but I can't resist the temptation with these two. Anyway, for Day 2 prompts I combined "Kings/Marriage AU" and I hope you enjoy the result!

Noctis couldn’t breathe. 

Above him, the figures of his loved ones hung chained, broken. Macabre marionettes on display like some kind of sick exhibition of death. Luna, his father, Nyx Ulric of the Glaives. All of them strong, all of them heros. All of them had given their lives that he might be standing here.

Behind him, Prompto, Gladio, Ignis. His best friends, his reasons to keep going. Sprawled out on the floor under the spell of some kind of dark magic. They had waited ten years, just like him, that they might be standing here at his side. And yet they had fallen, all of them, like a house of cards at the snap of fingers. As if their hard-earned strength amounted to nothing at all. 

And then before him was Ardyn. The Usurper, he’d been called. The Demon. Smirking with his boot atop the throne -  _ Noct’s throne -  _ and his fingers tracing the rim of his hat. This was all a game to him. What concern was life and death to a man who could never die? What did he care of the suffering of others when he himself had endured two thousand years of exile, of pain? 

Ardyn tutted. “Oh, dear. Your friends seem to be in distress.” There dripped such a mocking tone in that voice as it boomed around the throne room that any hope still lingering there was dashed in an instant.  

“Let them go.” 

“I  _ am  _ sorry. Perhaps it wasn’t made clear enough to you.” Ardyn waved his hand in the air as he sank down into the seat of the King. “Anyone can see that you’re in no position to be making demands.”

“You haven’t won yet! I came here to kill you!”

“Afraid you’re a bit late for that, boy.”

“Fight me, Ardyn!”

“No.” Yellow eyes flashed deadly pale in the dim light. Another wave of his hand and shadows began to fill the room, and from everywhere at once the twisted cries, growls, snarls of demons. With a curse Noctis summoned his sword, stepped back between his friends as if to shield their fallen bodies. All around him, haunting, hollow eyes appeared one by one out of the darkness. Dozens of them, gnashing their teeth and dragging heavy claws over the marble floor, held back only by their Master’s commanding will. 

“I can take them,” Noct growled under his breath. “I’m not afraid of your puppets!”

“You should be.” From the top of the dias, he could hear Ardyn’s boots tapping out a leisurely gait. Down, down, slowly descending from the throne to join Noctis in the center of the horde, effectively trapping him in on all sides. “Surely you realize by now that you and your merry men stand no chance against me.”

“We defeated a god.” Keeping his eyes locked on the monsters snarling on the edge of the shadows, Noct still managed to direct his venom at Ardyn. “We beat Ifrit and we’ll beat you, too.”

“Ifrit? Ifrit was a broken shell, little more than a fire spirit I learned to conjure at will.” Ardyn approached him. Close, too close. Noct struggled to watch the ring of demons surrounding him while edging further toward the center of the room. 

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever it takes, I’m going to kill you. I have to. For Luna, for my father…. For everyone.”  _ He would end the plague. He would restore light to the world and save the people. It was his purpose…. He wasn’t allowed to fail. _

“Tell me, Dear Noct.” Strong fingers curled around his chin and for the first time Noct allowed his attention to be pulled away from the snarling demons. He looked up into the eyes of his enemy and found his doom written there above a smile. “All those years in the Crystal. All that time to think, did you never once consider joining me?”

The words rang in Noct’s ears. Pulled a horrified laugh from his throat. “You  _ are  _ crazy.”

“Sometimes, though not in this. I offer you a second chance, a path that doesn’t involve throwing your life away for those oversized ingrates you call gods.”

Had he been able, Noct would have shaken his head. Ardyn was wrong, of course he was. True, Noct had been told his life was the key to the world’s salvation, that he would need to die in order to restore peace to the land. But he was a king. The Last King. It was his duty. He’d never had a choice…. 

“I can see it in your eyes. You’re frightened, as you should be. Death, I hear, is an unpleasant affair. Painful. Final.” When Adryn shuddered, Noct felt it all the way down to his bones. “Wouldn’t you rather live?”

“No….”

“The lives of your friends, then. Surely those are more important to you?”

Noctis swallowed. Dragged his gaze over the prone forms of Ignis, of Gladio. Of Prompto, who looked so pale, so haggard. The shadows - and the demons contained within them - inched forward, and Noct felt his heart lurch. “Stop!” he cried, and Ardyn’s grip on him tightened. 

“You  _ do _ have a choice, Noct. Look at me!” Firm fingers tugged him back into place, held him fast. “I am the rightful King, by name and by blood. Your claim on the throne is based on lies and falsehood, and yet….” Ardyn grinned, baring his teeth as he pulled Noctis even closer. “The Ring of the Lucii accepts you, grants you its power.  _ Your blood _ was chosen by the Crystal, and so you, too, are a King of Light.”

He saw where Ardyn’s words were going, and his eyes went wide. No…. He couldn’t be suggesting…?!

“Join me, Noctis. We were meant to rule -  _ together _ .”

“No.”

“We can end the night.”

“I don’t believe you….”

“Defeat the false gods, restore balance to the cosmos.”

“You’re mad…!”

Ardyn’s mouth closed over his and all thoughts were silenced. All further arguments died in his throat, drowned out by the dark ichor that flowed into his mouth instead. He tried to scream, to fight, but Ardyn held him fast, kissed him harder. Forced more of his demonic curse into his body until his limbs ached with the weight of it. Darkness swallowed up his vision, and he knew nothing more.

 

 

Dawn was his favorite time of day. Watching the morning sun rise above the ruined buildings of Insomnia, seeing the shadows retreat once more that the living might crawl from their broken homes. It was peace, or the closest thing they would ever know to it. It was the Kingdom of Light. It was  _ his _ kingdom. 

“Good morning, darling,” came a familiar voice, deep and dark as the night that had begun its retreat. “You’re up early.”

Noct smiled as Ardyn pulled him down from the window and into his arms once more. “You know how much I love to watch the sunrise.”

“I do.” Lips curved in a smirk pressed to the underside of Noctis’ pale jaw. The young king continued speaking as if he hadn’t noticed. 

“It reminds me of you. It’s your greatest gift to me.”

“Anything for you, darling.” 

Noct was naked, his pale body already shivering as Ardyn’s hands, mouth, tongue began to trail their way down the length of it. 

“It’s a shame my friends can’t see the sunrise anymore.”

Ardyn paused. Looked up into his husband’s dark red eyes and frowned. “Your friends?”

Something happened then, a flash of light or a flicker of shadow. The contrast of it played across Noctis’ face for a brief moment, and his smile faltered. His memory shifted, replaced the images of amber eyes, of freckles, of sharp steel behind sharper lenses with more familiar ones: yellow-gold and the twisted smile of his One True King. 

Noctis blinked. “Nothing. What was I saying?”

There was a laugh hidden somewhere in Ardyn’s throat, but he held it back for the moment. Distracted his beautiful husband with fingers tapping along his inner thigh. “I believe,” he lied with a well-practiced grin. “You were telling me how much you love me.”

“Oh, of course.” Humming his pleasure, Noct sank down into the pillows and drew his King up to meet his lips. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.”   
  



End file.
